This document has as antecedent, the utility model patent application called “G.V.P.P.—Voltage Generation by Weight”, Application U 4342 filed in Uruguay on Jul. 5, 2010. This Uruguayan document motivates the partial priority claim in the present U.S. patent application.
The Uruguayan document explains the limited autonomy problem found in vehicles operating with an electric motor and vehicles operating by compressed air. This limited autonomy is caused, in the case of electric motor vehicles, by using the same power network to feed the engine, as well as the other electrical devices and the impossibility of the user to recharge the battery bank. In the case of compressed air motor vehicles, limited autonomy occurs in the loss of engine power to be able to load the battery, which is used to feed the vehicle electrical devices such as heating or lights, and the impossibility of auto-recharging the air storage tanks that the vehicle brings from the factory.
To increase the autonomy of the vehicle, in the above-identified Uruguayan patent application, the invention intends to use the weight of the automotive vehicle in motion as potential energy to produce movement or rotation work; the invention is based on the combination of a compressor mechanism with a mechanical mechanism, which operates in an interdependent manner, to produce the above indicated rotation work used to move an alternate current generator.
By using a compressor mechanism, strategically placed on the vehicle suspension, it enables to take advantage of the weight of the vehicle. This compressor mechanism comprises: four cylinders having four pistons or diaphragms strategically placed, as if they were shock absorbers; one-way valves; a storage tank, which in the case of compressed air vehicles they are not the ones that come from the factory nor replace them, and pipes. The compressed air is released from the tank through an actuator commanded by an electronic module, accelerates a wheel turbine kinetic energy accumulator. When this piece turns, it can give impulse to an AC generator able to directly feed the motor or to charge a battery bank.
The mixed mechanical compressor system that was proposed in the Uruguayan patent application, on its mechanical part, is capable of transforming the ascending and descending movements of the vehicle suspension in rotary motion, using a sprocket and gear system mounted on shafts in a gear box. The rotary movement is used to start the rotation of the wheel turbine accumulator. The gearbox is coupled to the bodywork and a rack is fixed to the rear axle, or to a fifth wheel mounted with the sole purpose of moving the rack.
The mechanism's interdependence is given by the fact that the gearbox gives the initial movement to the wheel turbine accumulator of kinetic energy, and then the compressor mechanism, by releasing air, accelerates the wheel turbine accumulator increasing rpm in a sufficient quantity to generate electricity.
Improvements Introduced by the Present Invention
The present invention introduces improvements to the invention of the Uruguayan patent application previously mentioned. This document discloses a mechanical compressor system for potential energy storage for generation of electricity for electric vehicles or compressed air vehicles, without withdrawing power to the engine.
This invention improves the ascending and descending movement of the rack with regard to what was happening in the Uruguayan invention, since in the prior invention, the same amount of rpm output was not obtained during the ascend and descent of the rack. In this invention, during both the ascending and descending of the rack, the same gearbox output revolutions are obtained, increasing the generator output rpm.
In the Uruguayan invention, the excess air which is not admitted in the storage tank during the air pressure intake process is released to the exterior. In the present invention, an auxiliary storage tank, with an independent extra auxiliary safety valve and an extra pipe system, stores this excess air that can be used, because the download of the safety valve of the main tank in the present invention goes to the auxiliary tank. The two tanks that are part of the present invention are not the ones that come with compressed air vehicles from the factory, nor replace them.
The Uruguayan invention discloses the possibility of using diaphragms as an alternative to the use of pistons located within the cylinder, to compress the air. The present invention eliminates the diaphragms, operating only with pistons with airtight sealing rings located inside the cylinders achieving a more efficient air compression.
In the weight of the vehicle, there is a potential energy in which the present system takes advantage. The weight of the moving vehicle is transformed into kinetic energy for the generator to produce electricity. The system uses the aforementioned energy to give motion to a current generator without withdrawing power from the vehicle electric motor or to the compressed air engine. The system generates an alternate current which is sent to a continuous AC converter. This converter commanded by an electronic module may send its energy to the motor controller, or, such motor controller may feed the vehicle battery bank. The module may control the converter feeding, for example, through the inverter relay system or through the use of high power transistors. In the case of compressed air vehicles, the present invention stores air in two tanks, which are not the ones brought by the vehicle from the factory. This stored air allows it to produce electricity and to feed the vehicle electric compressor installed at the factory, thereby, compressing air in the factory-installed vehicle tanks, which are the ones that store air to move the engine.
The objective of this invention is to increase the autonomy of the above-mentioned vehicles, without prejudice to the free use of elements such as lighting, heating, air conditioning, audio system, which are fed with electricity, as well as the motor, decreasing their autonomy.
The mechanical compressor system is commanded by an electronic module through sensors and actuators.